


With This We Begin

by Confused-Bird (DoomedTimeline)



Series: Voltron; The Next Generation [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Everyone Needs A Nap, Happy Ending, I suck at speeches, Kind of scattered plot, Miscommunication, Multi, Post-Series, Rebuilding, Robeast - Freeform, Slice of Life, This storyline goes everywhere im so sorry, allura dealing with politics, medical experimentation sort of?, minor/unnamed character death, pidge actually invents stuff, please suggest more tags im dying here, sci-fi tech, the coalition now has its own planet, the gang is basically a family, the gang is bored, too many princess bride references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-02-26 10:24:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13233723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoomedTimeline/pseuds/Confused-Bird
Summary: At the end of it all, they must rebuild what was destroyed.Keiria was now the home base of the coalition and soon to be alliance, a planetary home for those no longer with a planet.The paladins must work to keep peace amongst the people, but also amongst themselves, dealing with their emotions along the way.





	1. A New Day Dawning

It had been several months since Zarkon was rid of for good. He no longer posed a threat to the universe, nor its inhabitants. Though with no leader at the head of the empire, many found themselves fighting for the throne; but none would prove successful as the witch Haggar barred all from claiming their spot. She believed, in spite of it all, that Zarkon could still return to rule his empire. Across the sectors still under her control, she sent her troops, spreading thin.In spite of all her attempts to keep the empire together, it was apparent her senility was affecting her ability to command troops with adequate precision. Even though with all her desire to maintain the empire, it appeared her precision of command was affected by senility. Within weeks, half of what was left, was lost; the Galra empire truly had died. Some fled, leaving the Empire they once knew and going into hiding. Many fell, by the hand of another or by homicide, as death was a greater fate than cowardice to the Galra.

Haggar and her druids withdrew to the shadows, leaving those who remained to fend for themselves, abandoning them.. The Witch invested herself deeper into her work, sending out robeast after robeast until each one sent out was more weak and feeble than the last. And then they were gone. Haggar disappeared, leaving the paladins of Voltron to rebuild what of the universe still lived. 

Allura headed that front, working with Ryner and the Olkari. They began construction on a new Daibazaal, a new homeworld for the galra that fled and hid from Zarkons oppression. Yet this process was an unpopular one. Many argued that the Galra were not deserving of this help; that it was wrong to build a home for the ones who had destroyed so much. But Allura remained strong, ensuring those dissenters that their planets would be the first priority. Terraforming was a gradual process, a plan for the long-term; those planets who came to Voltron’s aid would be rebuilt by the time it was finished. The peoples of the coalition finally relented and begrudgingly accepted the fact, allowing it to continue.  

As a new planet was designated the home of the coalition, those who were prominent in Zarkons removal of power, gained high-level jobs in the new government on this planet. The paladins took it upon themselves to help with the effort that it took to make the planet viable; though, this left Allura to work as a public appeaser, talking amongst ambassadors to populate this new planet.

 

The light on Keiria was dying fast considering the planet was entering its winter season. Reds and purples painted the sky as the dual suns dipped below the skyline. Keiria was now the home base of the coalition and soon to be alliance, a planetary home for those no longer with a planet. Construction sites littered the horizon, building houses and buildings for the soon to be citizens of the planet. Currently, the only people that resided on the planet, were ambassadors and politicians of races of people who were apart of the coalition and who would soon sign their races into an intergalactic alliance. 

The council meeting in the main room of the newly built government building had run long and looked to not be ending soon. Several official-looking people of different races sat around an oblong table, each listening intently as the Olkari leader, Ryner, spoke about the progress of the city and when it would truly be ready for those displaced to settle. 

Allura sat at the head of this table with Coran and Shiro standing behind her, she was half listening to Ryner speak about the housing situation; she had already heard it before. 

Orange light filtered through the glass, casting a warm glow on the occupants of the table, highlighting their worry and concern. When Ryner’s report concluded, questions from the ambassadors began.

“Will there be enough food to go around?” The first ambassador asked, representative of the Osetet people. A species that had large bulking bodies similar to that of balmerans, known for their strength and resilience. They had been used as slaves in galra mines, gathering metal and minerals for weapons. The Galra had been slowly starving them out as punishment for the planet running out of materials. 

Allura sighed quietly, slowly sitting up in attention of the leader; 

“We have a few farms started which should be ready for full production in the next few vargas, but for now the castle ship and several other colonies have enough to provide until then.” She answered.

Another ambassador piped up. Allura recognized her as one of the Frahale people, those with short lifespans and short stature but who rivaled the olkari when it came to tech production. They had held their own against the galra for the longest time, even expanding out several colony planets; but they had lost most of their population when the galra had begun testing their planet-destroying weapons.

“What about space? Will there be enough to hold all of the refugees?” She asked, tapping the table worriedly.

“The initial city plans to hold about fifty thousand people,” Allura said, looking to Ryner for confirmation. As she nodded Allura continued. “Though over the next few decapheobes, there is a plan to expand outward or start a new settlement where there is space.” 

“That won’t be enough space” The leader objected, leaning forward with disapproval.

“It is not feasible to build a city that would hold an entire species worth of citizens within just a few decapheobes and you will have to come to terms with that or back out of this agreement.” Allura said with a sigh, trying not to allow her irritation to slip through her words.

A few of the ambassadors looked to each other, speaking silent words as worry and concern showed on their faces. The final ambassador leaned forward, one from the Apethic people, an insectoid-like people with varying range of skin tones and hard carapace like plates along each of their limbs and back. Their large swept back antennae used for conversing silently among those of their kind. They gaped their mouth for a few seconds, antennae twitching, looking for the right words to ask.

“What about the planet’s defenses? What safeguards will it have?” The ambassador asked, voice soft.

“The green paladin and a few of our scientists are currently working on implementing a planet-wide particle barrier that is powered by Keirian suns,” Allura explained, letting Ryner switch the hologram to a diagram of the planet. “It is more advanced than the one on my castle ship and only ships with proper access codes would be allowed to pass through the barrier" 

The ambassadors looked amongst each other, an unspoken word hung in the air among them. 

“And Voltron?” The Osetet ambassador asked, the others waiting anxiously for Allura’s answer. 

The Princess stood gracefully, folding her hands behind of her. “Voltron is still the defender of the universe and its first priority is to maintain peace among coalition systems” She said, looking among the ambassadors. “Now I believe that this meeting is over and we expect your answer relatively soon. I bid you all farewell” 

Allura moved out from her seat and walked out of the room, Shiro and Coran following quickly behind her. Her shoulders slumped as the door closed behind them and she let out a long sigh, tension leaving her frame. 

“Coran?” She asked, turning to look at the older altean. “How many races are currently registered to live on Keirian?”

“About fifteen Princess” Coran answered, clearly looking exhausted from the meeting as well. “And there are six more ambassadors still waiting to get the spiel”

“Those are the ones that are happening tomorrow right?”

“Yes they are”

Allura let out a sigh of relief and rubbed her temple slightly. “Is there anything else planned for today?

“ There is not, everything else is tomorrow” 

“Why don't you go get some sleep then Coran” Allura smiled, resting a hand on his arm. The older altean nodded and smiled back at her, giving her a quick hug before walking off in the direction of the castle. This left Allura and Shiro alone in the hallway as they watched Coran walk off. 

Shiro opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it, as Allura turned around. He stared at her for a few seconds, bathed in the now magenta light shining through the windows, she looked graceful as ever, even with fatigue showing around her eyes. 

“Are you okay Shiro?” She asked, pulling Shiro out of his infatuated gaze. He shook his head quickly and took a breath quietly.

“Oh uh, yeah” Shiro hummed “I was just wondering if you wanted to join the team and I in watching a movie later. Considering Keith just got back and we’ve all been pretty busy lately, Lance suggested it as a way to relax”

Allura looked at him for a second then chuckled lowly. “Sure, I don't see why not.” 

-

Shiro plopped down in the middle of the couch in the rec room. He watched as Pidge and Hunk tried to connect the screen to their laptop, quietly. They conversed just outside of Shiro’s hearing range, so he turned his attention to Lance setting out bowls of relatively earth-like snacks on the table in front of them.

“Those look pretty weird Lance” Shiro chuckled, dodging the small snack being thrown at him. 

“It was the best Hunk and I could do with what food supplies we have” Lance defended, crossing his arms. “If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it; that way there is more for everyone else”

“I just said it looked weird, not that I wouldn't eat it Lance” He laughed and scooched over as Keith dropped down into the couch. 

“Looks like the Emo finally decided to join us” Lance teased, grabbing a piece from one of the bowls and plopping down next to the new arrival. 

“Shut up, I was asleep” Keith yawns, sinking into the couch slightly.

“You didn't have to join us,” Shiro said, awkwardly moving to ruffle Keith’s hair. The red paladin makes a face at the treatment but shrugs it off, combing his hair back to its original position. 

Lance huffed quietly and took the seat next to Keith, snatching the blankets they had on the couch and wrapping them around himself. 

“Anyway, Shiro. You said Allura was joining us right?” Lance asked, leaning forward to look around the half dosing Keith. 

“She said she was” Shiro shrugged, glancing over at the doorway. “Do you think I should go get her?” 

“Nah, she’ll probably show up on her own eventually” As if summoned by his words, Allura walked through the door carrying a blanket of her own. When the team -Specifically Lance- showed her what sweatpants were, she took full advantage of them and used the castles replicator to make herself several pairs. She wore one of those pair now with her hair tied up in double buns.

“Hey ‘Llura!”Lance called “We were starting to think you weren't coming”

“Sorry” She apologized; taking the spot next to Shiro, oblivious to the blush creeping up on his face. 

“Okay! Everything’s all set up!” Hunk suddenly said, popping up from his place next to the screen. 

“Did we ever decide what movie we were going to watch?” Shiro hummed

“Alien!” Pidge called

“Ponyo!” Lance yelled

“I don't care what we watch” Hunk affirmed, sitting down on the other side of Lance

Keith blinked his eyes open, deciding to add to the conversation. “Heathers” He yawned, rubbing his eyes slightly. 

Lances eyes narrowed as he turned to Keith. “You, the Texan Country Boy, likes Heathers?” Lance huffed, leaning to get into Keith's face. “Which one.”

“Uh, what other ones are there?”

“Well first of all, there's the musical-!”

“Boys!” Shiro interjected, reaching his arm around to flick Lance’s ear then Keith's. “As… interesting as the Heathers media is- I don’t think it's appropriate for the child in the room.”

“Speak for yourself Shiro,” Pidge  said, “You’re the six-year-old out of us”

“First of all Pidge, I  _ was _ talking about myself. And second of all, Heathers isn't an appropriate movie to use to introduce earth movies to Allura.”

Allura frowned but kept quiet at the statement.

“So what movie do you suggest we watch then?” Lance huffed, dropping his head back against Hunk’s arm. 

“Wall-E”

“Why Wall-E?” Keith asked, even he was confused to the choice of the movie.

“Because” Shiro started, looking at his team “Wall-E is a family friendly flick and about to robots in space. Which oddly seems appropriate, plus it’s cute”

The rest of paladins shrugged and nodded accordingly, they all seemed to be fine with this decision in the movie and its reasoning. 

“I guess i’ll put the movie on then” Pidge hummed, turning back to their laptop.

It only took a few seconds before they had the movie up and finally joined the gang on the couch, curling up on the other side of Hunk. 

Allura watched on in curiosity as the movie began to play, watching the animation play. She asked a few questions throughout the movie though eventually Shiro just told her to watch the movie. 

By the midpoint of the movie, it was noticed that Lance had fallen asleep against Keith’s shoulder, which had the male blushes brightly. Shiro teased him quietly about it, resulting in a soft punch to the side on Shiro’s part. 

Though by the end of the movie, three out of the six participants had fallen asleep. Allura curled up against Shiro’s side, Lance on Keith, and Pidge just curled up awkwardly into the couch arm. 

Hunk stood and groaned softly as he stretched and the blanket fell from his lap. He looked between the three sleepers and the two blushing fidgeting people.

“So I guess i'll be taking Pidge to their room and you guys will be taking Lance and Allura to their rooms?” He chuckled, picking up the blanket that fell.

Keith and Shiro shared a look before turning back to Hunk and nodding.

“Yeah, guess so” Shiro replied, giving a sheepish look.

Hunk shook his head with a sigh and gathered up the sleeping Pidge in his arms before walking out of the room. The only thing heard in the room after the yellow paladins footsteps dissipated was the soft music from the movie credits.

“Do you want me to take Lance and you take Allura?” Shiro offered, breaking the silence. 

Keith frowned for a second, rubbing his wrist softly before shaking his head. 

“No, I can take him” he mumbled quietly and moved carefully to lot let Lance fall. With little effort, he picked up the boy. 

“Night Shiro,” Keith said, waving carefully around Lance’s body. 

“Night Keith” Shiro sighs, and with that he is alone. He sits there for a few minutes just enjoying the motionless room, listening only to Allura’s soft breaths and the hum of the castles engines. The projector automatically turned off once the movie had finished, leaving them in darkness aside from the faint blue glow from the castle walls. 

Finally, Shiro decided that he had sat long enough and gently pulled Allura into his arms before standing. She was lighter than he expected, which wasn't entirely unwelcome. Making sure to shut Pidges laptop, he left the room; heading in the direction of Allura’s room slowly. The castle was silent still, only the thump of his footsteps on the flooring being heard.

Shiro felt allura shift slightly in his arms, her head turning to look up at him. One blink, two. She looked at him with tired eyes, confused as to what was going on.

“Shiro?” she asked with a yawn.

“Yes princess?”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m taking you to your room”

“Oh” Allura yawned again, leaning her head against Shiro’s chest. “Alright then”

Shiro blushed quietly and continued walking, hopefully his heart would begin pounding, it certainly felt as though it would soon. A few seconds later he felt the princess shift again.

“Hey Shiro?” she hummed, keeping her eyes closed.

“Yeah?” he answered, his voice soft

“You're warm”

“Thanks?”

“You make a good pillow”

“Alright then” He chuckled, keeping himself from rubbing her back. They soon made it to the Princesses room and Shiro opened the door, shifting Allura around to not drop her. He walked inside and looked around the room for a second. 

Shiro walked to Allura’s bed, pushing aside her covers with a single hand, only for a brief second noting how soft they were. He placed her down on her bed gently and brushed her hair behind her ear.

‘She’s beautiful even when she’s asleep’ he thought, staring at her for a few seconds. He shook his head at the thought of staying too long and pulled her sheets over her frame.

Allura shifted and curled under her covers, though she paused and hummed softly.

“Goodnight Shiro” she said softly, sleeping pulling at the edges.

“Goodnight Princess”


	2. Drowning in You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After work comes play; but for some when the work day ends, work itself doesn't.

Keiria had become a planet of many cultures in the span of just a few months. Twenty-two peoples had come to live together. Naturally it was not without its problems, several clashes between the races broke out over food or space. Though in the end, most looked to the Castle of Lions as a beacon of hope and solidarity in their struggles to call this new planet their home. 

The workday for most was ending at the moment, peoples of all professions filed out onto the street to make their way home or to head to the closest bar to drown away thoughts of their work. Though there were others whose workday did not end until much later, the politicians who worked to make sure that the peoples got what they needed and that things ran smoothly. This meant that even as the dual moons of Keiria rose overhead, Allura was still working, though now in the communal living room. There were several papers scattered about on the table before her, many holding different requests and supplies that the people of Keiria needed. Creases of strain had formed on the Princesses forehead as she read over each one, deciding which requests were reasonable and which were not. 

‘Why did I agree to do this’ Allura thought, setting the papers down with a sigh. She looked over to where the rest of the team was milling around, talking quietly amongst each other. It was good that they could have some peace after what happened with Zarkon, but Allura was jealous. A break from it all would have been much appreciated, but alas she could not.

‘But work before play’ she finalized and went back to reading the papers, tapping her foot quickly against the floor.

“So what have you guys been doing?” Hunk asked, taking his seat on the side of the table. The rest of the team sat around the table as well, each looking tired in their own right, especially with Keith almost asleep on Lances shoulder. It seemed like a good idea to try and lighten the mood.

“Ive been playing general peacemaker among the citizens” Shiro sighed, poking the food goo in front of him with his spoon. “Like i’ve had to settle disputes between a few apethic scientists and bach- bachul-” Shiro makes an annoyed face and sticks his tongue out “I can barely pronounce their name, but anyway- as intelligent as the apethic guys are, they’re kind of ignorant to social things and get really arrogant at times.” He rubbed his temple, trying to forget the pain that was the earlier encounter. 

“That’s rough buddy” Lance hums, shrugging keith around slightly to fit him more comfortable under his chin. 

“That sounds better than what Klovian’s had me doing” Keith yawns, shifting his chair closer to Lances. “I’ve run six missions in a week and barely slept I think ten hours in that entire span.”

“So that’s why you’ve been so tired” Hunk affirms, glancing over at him. “I’ve been working on the food line, passing out food to a lot of the families here. And when I haven't been doing that i’ve been fixing machines that need fixing.”

For a moment everyone looks over to Pidge who has been quietly working on a small device since they arrived at the table. Shiro sighs and pokes her shoulder. 

“Pidge, what have I told you about bringing inventions to the table” He said, dropping his hand back in his lap. Pidge looked up after a few seconds with a small glare at Shiro.

“Its something I wanted to show you guys and I making sure a certain part was working okay? They huffed and set the device down on the table. It was a small white cube, somewhat like Coran’s olkari echo cube. It had a circular opening on one side that looked very similar to a camera lens.

“What.. is it?” Lance asked, leaning forward a bit to examine it. 

“I don’t actually have a name for it yet, but it’s basically a super high-tech camera?”

“Like a digital camera? Where’s the screen to show the picture you took?”

“That’s the kicker” Pidge says, a hint of excitement in their voice. They slide their finger diagonally across the surface of the cube, glowing a light blue under their touch. As they turn it so the lens faces up, a projection suddenly appears of Pidges workstation in the green lion hangar, though it’s half transparent. 

“Holy shit” Lance hisses, staring at the projection wide-eyed. 

“Dude how did you make this” Hunk bounces, pure amazement and excitement in his eyes. 

“Well I got bored helping Ryner in the labs cause were out of sizable energy crystals, so I started investigating how the bridge makes its holograms and with a little help from Coran and Ryner I was able to build a much smaller version of it. And then the image capture is just a simple reflection of light onto the image sensor, like DSLR camera’s back on earth”

“Wow…”

“My next plan is going to figure out how to add color to it so we all can take pictures of stuff” Pidge smirked at the look on everyone's faces. They crossed their arms and leaned back in their chair.

“You gotta show me how to use that when you finish it” Lance whistles, thinking of many devious plans of what to use it for later.

“When I work out all the kinks and stuff im gonna make one for all of you and basically make a Cloud saving system so we can all see the pictures everyone else took. And considering what little resources it actually takes, it shouldn't be a problem. But until we get more energy crystals, I won't be able to make more”

Hunk frowned at the comment, thinking quietly to himself for a few seconds. 

“Why don't we just ask Allura if we could go back to the Balmera and get more?” He says, glancing up at the team, his cheeks tinged with red.

“Is that a ploy to just go see Shay” Lance teases, wiggling his eyebrows at the other.

“Partially, but if the science department need the crystals to power their equipment and inventions, Shay’s Balmera is our best bet because we know where that one is and we’re friends with them” Hunk reasons, waving his spoon around to emphasize his words.

“I mean yeah” Pidge agrees “But technically were supposed to put in paperwork for that stuff and Ryner already did? Also, Let me just say, I hate paperwork.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, thinking about the dreaded paperwork that most of them had to do, and what Allura was  _ currently _ doing.

“I mean- we could still ask Allura” Lance says, looking amongst the other paladins. “Most of us could use a break from the stuff we’ve been doing, and heading to the balmera to collect crystals for the planet isn't technically a vacation, since its actually needed.  _ And _ we can do what we need to relax on the week it takes to get there”

Shiro hums at the idea, tapping his finger on the table softly. Lance had a point with all this, even if was a cheap way how to get a short vacation. But hey, after the lack of team bonding and training with all of them within the past few months, it was an opportune moment to get the team into shape and back in practice.

“So if we do this” Shiro started “Who’s going to be the one to disturb Allura from her work to ask?”

“I’ll do it” Hunk grinned, standing up from the table. “I don't think she’ll object to it”

“Good luck to you buddy” Lance saluted with his free hand. “We’ll honor you well at your funeral” 

Hunk rolled his eyes and walked away from the table, down over where Allura was sitting amongst papers, holding a tablet in her hand.

“Uh hey Allura?” Hunk hummed, standing awkwardly off to the side of the couch.

Allura made a noise of acknowledgement, not looking up at the yellow paladin. 

“Sine the science department needs more energy crystals, we were wondering if we could go to Shay’s balmera and get more while using the time it takes to relax”

The princess paused, then looked up at Hunk with a large smile on her face. 

“If the science department needs it, I don't see why not.”

 

They left a few days later, many citizens watching as the castle ship left its dock and left the inner atmosphere. Allura gripped the pedestals underneath her hands, focusing on the coolness they sent through her arms as quintessence funneled into the console and piloting the ship in precise fashion. She shivered at the chill and let out a sigh at the familiarity she hadn't felt in so long. Coran continuously checked his own control panel, monitoring the castle ships diagnostics. The paladins were in their chairs, watching silently as they left the planet. 

Allura pulled away from her pedestal once they breached the atmosphere and were set on course. She looked to her paladins and sighed quietly, knowing that she had to go continue sorting through paperwork, as requested from her fellow council members. She walked out quickly and headed off to silence. 

Shiro stood and and stretched slightly. The other paladins looked to him, expecting him to suggest some form of training during this escapade. He looked back at them and raised an eyebrow, giving them his signature dad look. 

“What?” He said, crossing his arms.

“Uh, I dunno” Lance shrugs “Were just expecting you to say something like ‘Okay guys let's train!’ or something of that nature” the others nodded in agreement. 

“Do you guys even  _ want _ to train?” 

“I mean, yeah. Sort of” Keith hums “Its been a while since we trained together”

“Then lets go train”

The others got up quickly and started making their way to the training room, chattering quietly amongst themselves. Though, Lance stops next to Shiro and looks up at him, biting his lips a bit. 

“You should go ask Allura if she wants to train with us” He starts, biting his lip “I know she’s been ansty about all the paperwork she has to do, so I figure that training with us would help her wind down.”

“Why are you telling me to go ask her?” Shiro asks, frowning down at Lance. 

“Firstly it's kind of obvious that you’re pining after her. And second of all, she would actually listen to you”

Shiro blushed furiously and opened his mouth to retort but quickly shut up, averting his gaze. 

“Okay fine” He huffed as he stepped around Lance, heading out the door “Go on with everyone else, don't wait up for me”

Lance nodded went down the other side of the hallway, heading into the training room. Shiro sighed and watched him go, eventually walking off in the direction he thought Allura most likely was, that being the living room. Despite the engine never truly allowing the halls to be quiet, without the sound of people bustling about in rooms and the hall; it was silent. It was a calming silence, Shiro reveled in it. Eventually he got to the communal living room and looked inside, where he found Allura curled up half on the table; her hair fanned out around her as she groaned in displeasure, sitting up and leaning back. 

“Allura?” Shiro said, announcing his presence to her. She jolted up and looked over at the paladin.

“Oh, Shiro! Do you need something?” She asked, and quickly pulled her papers together. She hoped that he didn't see her complaining. 

“Do you want to come train with us?” He asked straight out, walking over to the couch.

“I have to do paperwork…”  
“And you have roughly two weeks to do it, Allura” Shiro sighed and brushed her hair out of her face.

Allura sighed and looked down slightly. “But there’s so much...”

“It’ll be fine,” he said, resting his hand on her shoulder. “You’re wound up, come train with us to relax a bit”

“Alright, I’ll be there in a bit” She relented, standing up slowly. Shiro smiled fondly with a sigh. 

“Good to hear”

 

Shiro had made it back to the training room and was sparring with Keith. Quick thoughts dictating each of their actions. Shiro’s use of skill in close combat to throw off Keith’s blade, small dives to avoid slashes. All things he learned in the arena, things that kept him on his toes. By the end of it, Shiro had knocked away Keith’s bayard and had the red paladin trapped under his foot. 

“I yield!” Keith huffed, squirming under Shiro’s boot. The black paladin smirked and pulled his foot off, only to have Keith grab his leg and flip their positions. Shiro now having back flat against the ground, unable to get up due to Keith pressing his weight against him. He closed his eyes, fighting back screams and cheers before huffing and pushing Keith’s foot off.

“That’s cheating” Shiro said, giving the stern dad look as he was helped up by the other paladin. 

“All’s fair in love and war” Keith smirks and claps the others arm, who taught him that phrase anyway.. “Either way, I won and now i’m gonna go take a shower” He walked off quickly and disengaging his bayard.

Shiro watched as he left as he rubbed the back of his head. He looked at the other paladins who were splayed out in the corner, already back in their regular clothes. Shiro shook his head slightly, he would make them do the mind meld later. But he guessed they deserved a bit of a break.

“Am I too late?” a voice called, breaking the quiet of the room. Shiro turned to find Allura standing in the doorway in her official suit, hair pulled back into its usual bun. 

Shiro shook his head. “You’re never too late, Princess” He smiled, trying his best not to stare at her.

“Good” She purred out and walked over towards him “So, any rules for this?”

“Immediate stop at first blood and one party saying they yield, stop after the other person is on the ground for more than three ticks, no blows to the head, don't use full force, and stay within the ring” Shiro counted off, holding up his fingers as he did so.

“Alright then” The princess smirked, eyes flashing with a sense of glee. She took one of the many training staves from the retractable weapons rack before taking stance towards Shiro.

The black paladin took his stance opposite to his princess, spreading his legs slightly and raised his arms, holding them close to his body. 

“You ready?” He asks, ignoring the whistle from the slackers over in the corner. 

“Always” She answered. With a roll of her wrist she had the stave spinning, making her first move. The two circled each other slowly, side stepping, staring each other in the eye. 

The true first move was made by the princess, by leaping forward and dragging the stave along the floor to swing up. 

Shiro dodged it quickly, kicking the stave up quickly, pulling it forward, and slapping Allura’s midsection with an open palm.

“Silly mistake, Allura” he hummed, pushing her away with a quick shove. 

A small huff came from Allura as she regained her composure and spun her stave behind her; diving forward, acting to swing her staff to the others shoulder. Shiro’s arm came up to block it, though he yelped and flipped back as allura suddenly feinted and swiped her foot across his. The princess swings and jabs quickly, barely giving the other time to dodge, nevertheless he did, bending back, rolling to the side, all things ingrained in his mind from his time in the arena.

The rest of the fight was like a dance, graceful, with simple pushing and pulling that lead them across the stage; the lightness of the princesses feet only added to her elegance. Their spar continued on for several minutes, their steps bringing them closer and closer together, pivots, twists, and dodges until their feet tangled with each others. 

Shiro’s prosthetic hovering over the princesses side and Alluras arm braced against the paladins chest. Both panted heavily as it seemed this was the draw of the match. 

But all it took was Shiro trying to move back that had them toppling over. The princess now above her paladin, white hair that spilled from its containment cascading over her side. Shiro flushed upon realizing the position they were in and gulped quietly, still trying to regain his breath.

“I yield” he said softly, staring up into Allura’s violet-like eyes, lost in them.  Allura stared back and after a few seconds, smiled.

“I suppose you do” She said, passion glinting in her eyes. She lowers herself slightly, mostly to take the pressure off her arm, but this brings their faces closer together, close enough that she can feel his breath on her lips, until she lowered more and pressed her lips to his. 

He didn't realize it at first, staring up in shock. She soon pulled away and looked down at him.

“Okay?” She asked softly.

“Okay” he agreed, kissing her again and ignoring the whoops and whistles from the corner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh jeez doing this killed me whoops  
> anyway hope you like it!  
> it you have any question comments concerns or just want to bug me go follow me on Confused-bird.tumblr.com!


	3. Here There Be Crystals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team arrives on the Balmera to gather crystals like planned, Though it seems like like Shay wishes to go with them when they leave but who knows if she even can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this chapter if it seems a bit lower quality than the other ones, my beta was unable to check over it for me and I'm not the best at reading my own writing for problems that might now seem obvious.

The trip to the balmera took a few more days as expected; in this time the Princess began her courtship with her black paladin, having the few awkward moments as most blooming relationships did. 

On the sixth day of their voyage the castle landed on the Balmera, crowds forming around the base, looking to see why Voltron had come back. The team made their way out of the ship, each excited to see their friends again; though Hunk more, as he ran out ahead of the group towards the familiar group of Balmerans heading towards the ship.

“Shay!” He yelled, running to meet the balmeran who also began running towards him

“Hunk!” She squealed, catching the yellow paladin up in her arms in a tight hug. She swung him around quickly, both giggling at their reunion. 

Lance laughed at the sight and nudged Keith who shot him a playfully dirty look. Shay’s parents awed at the sight as Rax stepped forward towards the princess, smiling at the group.

“To what do we owe the visit princess?” He asks, soon being joined by the giggly couple.

“We need a small supply of crystals for our scientists back on Keiria” Allura said “We were hoping that your balmera could help us with that”

“The balmera is abundant with crystals since you destroyed the galra, much more since since we have dismantled the galra base.” Shay pipes up, wrapping her arm around Hunk.

“We will help you collect as many as you need, the balmera permits it” Rax states, crossing his arms behind his back. It seemed he had grown in maturity since they had met last. 

“Thank you so much” Allura hummed. “We will make sure to not stay long”

“Please, stay as long as you need” Shay smiled “You are not unwelcome here” 

“Thank you, Keith, Shiro, Lance and I will get started”

Shay nodded and squeezed Hunk’s shoulder slightly. Rax and the few other balmerans who came up, walked off, resuming the tasks they were doing before they were pulled away. The yellow paladin coughed slightly, looking at Allura with a silent question. 

“Go have fun with Shay, we’ll be fine without you” The princess smiled, waving him off before turning back to the others to set off.

 

Hunk and Shay had ran off into the castle a few minutes after the initial meeting, finding themselves sitting in Hunk’s room. Shay looked in awe around the castle, intrigued by the electronics aboard it. 

“Your castle is very intricate and pretty” The balmeran hummed, looking over at Hunk.

“I mean it’s not my castle, so you can tell that to Allura or Coran’s great great great grandfather”

Shay awed again and hummed, running her hands across the paladins bed, petting the soft material.

“So how have you been Shay?” Hunk said, sitting on the bed quickly, curling his legs up under him. 

Shay looked at Hunk and thought quietly about all the things that had happened since the last time they met. 

“Well,” She started, kicking her legs slightly. “We have been rebuilding our tunnels, building new homes, and cultivating the balmera’s crystals. I have also been watching the young ones during the day. Other than that it has been pretty uneventful”

Hunk hummed quietly, nodding slowly. “What about your family, how have they been doing?”

“They have been well too, but grandma returned to the balmera few pheobes ago” Shay said with a sigh, suddenly looking downcast. 

“Oh Shay… Im so sorry” Hunk said as he moves closer to her, placing an arm on her shoulder.

“She has returned to the balmera, she is in a better place now” Shay moves her arm around Hunk and pulls him close, hugging him loosely. “Even though I still miss her” 

“I’m sorry” he sighs and hugs back finally, rubbing the balmerans back softly.

“There is no need for you to apologize” Shay affirms and smiles softly at the other.

The two just lean on each other for a few minutes, enjoying the others presence and weight. A few minutes later Shay spoke up.

“Hunk?” She asked, voice heavy and soft with thought.

“Yeah?”

“What are the stars like”

“You mean space?”

Shay nods, staring into the ceiling. 

“Its vast; larger than you can imagine.” Hunk starts, rolling onto his back and gesturing with his hand. “Hundreds of thousands of millions starts separated by light years of empty voids that sometimes aren't even empty, orbited by planets that might inhabit life or might not. Its breathtaking when you just float through it for a while”

“I wish I could see it”

“I would offer to take you onto the yellow lion but we made a rule against taking people into the lion's for non-mission stuff”

Shay deflates slightly, dejection clear on her face. It's a thing Hunk couldn't avoid seeing and he dropped his head back, feeling like a jerk for saying such. They fell into silence once again, Shay deep in thought. 

“What if I went back to the coalition planet with you?” She asked, turning to look at the paladin.

A look of shock and surprise comes onto Hunk’s face and the sudden topic and quickly sits up, hiding his excitement. 

“But about your family? And the Balmera?” He asks quickly, leaning towards Shay.

“I have spoken to them about leaving before” She started, “Their only objection was that they are unsure of what might happen if I leave the balmera as none have left before”

Huns brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?” He asked, concern hidden in his voice. 

“We are born of the balmera, live by her crystals, and when we die we return to her mantel and give back what we have taken” Shay explained, a mantra repeated many times over her life.  “Our lives are tied to the balmera and the quintessence she produces. No one knows what might happen if we stray too far” 

Hunk frowned and sat back, taking in all the information.His mind working on possible ways to help Shay.

“...We could find out what happens when you do leave the balmera?” Hunk offered slowly, still processing a way to solve their problem. 

The balmeran looked over, interested in his query. The intrigue on her face caught Hunk’s attention and he stood up quickly.

“We could get into the yellow lion and gradually raise off the ground at varying increments to see the effects of leaving the balmera.” he explained, eyes flashing in excitement as his mind creating the entire experiment. 

Shay perked up and smiled brightly. “Then let us do it!”

 

“How many crystals have we collected so far?” Allura huffed, leaning against Shiro heavily; exhausted by the quintessence returning ritual. They had been collecting small sized crystals for several hours now, several small containers now full. Lance was just walking back and picked up another one.

“Eight containers currently in the hold with four more to be taken in” He answered, looking at Allura with concern before meeting Shiro’s eyes, holding a silent and knowing conversation. Lance shook his head and picked up another, nodding to Keith to grab another one before walking back to the castle. 

Shiro sighed and wrapped an arm around the Princesses hip to keep her steady as he guided her over to a nearby rock to sit on. 

“I think we’ve collected enough crystals today, Allura” Shiro said quietly, rubbing his human thumb over her hand softly and pressing a chaste kiss to her temple. 

“I suppose so” Allura sighed, smiling slightly at the kiss. 

“You look exhausted” Shiro said, brushing her hair back behind her ear. 

“I am” 

“Lets head back to the castle then” 

“I guess” Allura sighed and slowly stood, walking over to the two remaining containers. Picking up the lesser full one. “Let's get the last of these to the castle and grab some food?” she offered, watching Shiro as he picked up the other. 

“We need to change the kitchen so it's an actual kitchen” Shiro sighed, heading back to the castle. “Food goo is fine and all but actually cooking food would be nice, and the oven doesn't count” 

“I can change the castle interior to a stationary kitchen I believe.”

“Hunk and I would both appreciate that, and I think Keith would too, having edibles that's not goo” 

“I'll see what I can do later” Allura said, walking up the castle ramp to the hangar, placing the box down with the others. 

Allura’s earrings flashed for a second and she glanced at them, pressing them quickly.

“Go ahead” she said, listening to whoever was on the other side. 

“Hey Allura, Shay and I are gonna be going into the yellow lion so don't worry if you see it flying.” Hunk’s voice came through the communicator, sounding quite eager.

“What?”

“Dont worry about it!” 

“Hunk, what-”

The com turned off before Allura could finish her reply, causing the princess to frown and look over to Shiro.

“Hunk is up to something” She said, crossing her arms.  Shiro raised a brow, standing up from what he was doing. 

“Seems like shenanigans are afoot” He hummed, moving up next to Allura. “I wouldn't worry too much about it, he’s with Shay he couldn't get into that much trouble”

 

“You want me to do what?” Pidge asked wildly, looking up from their project.

“I need someone to record the information Shay and I collect while I pilot the yellow lion” 

Pidge sighed and rubbed the bridge of their nose, eyes closing. Then open their eyes after a few seconds and spin their chair to face Hunk completely, crossing their arms. 

“What are you even doing?”

“We are testing the effects of a balmeran being away from surface for extended amount of time at different heights”

“Why..?”

“Because our lives are tied to the balmera and none have left before” Shay pipped up. “There is the chance that we cannot. We wish to find out” 

Pidge looked between the two once again and sighed, unplugging their laptop and standing up with it. “Alright then, where are we doing this?” They hummed, tucking their laptop under their arm. “And i’m guessing you have a chart setup already?”

“It’ll be easier for to be in the bridge and yes, sort of, I know how im setting it up it just needs to actually be made.” Hun said quickly, bouncing slightly. They were actually doing it, and if nothing bad happens to Shay; she can go with them. 

“I think I know how you’re setting it up so i’ll just head up to the bridge and you can tell me when you’re ready” Pidge hummed and just gave Hunk a thumbs up, making their way up to the bridge. 

Hunk gave a small fist pump and turned back to Shay; jumping up to kiss her cheek quickly. The balmeran giggled quietly and leaned down, pressing her forehead to his for a second. 

“Let's head to my lion” Hunk said, blushing slightly and pulling away. Shay nodded and followed him as they quickly headed over to the yellow lion. 

“Hey girl!” the paladin yelled to his lion as he ran over, patting her nose before the lion opened its jaw to allow her paladin to enter.

“Come on Shay!” He yelled and disappeared into the lion's cockpit. Shay walked up the ramp slowly, a newfound anxiety rising in her chest. The possibility of not being able to leave the balmera scared her, but if that were also the case; Hunk go to no end trying to find a way for her to. The yellow glow of the lions interior only highlighted her anxiety. Shay took in a breath and followed into cockpit, looking around slowly. Hunk hummed lowly as he adjusted his seat and pressed a few buttons on the control panel. Shay hunched over and stepped up behind the paladin, looking out the glass. 

“If you don't want to stand there's a bench over there” Hunk said, looking up at Shay and pointing with his thumb to the corner of the cockpit. She looked over where he was pointing and nodded slowly, moving over to sit on it. She watched as Hunk pressed another button and an image of the Castles bridge then the green paladins seat.

“Yo Pidge, you ready?” Hunk said, tapping his fingers against the side of the chair slowly. 

“Just about, go ahead and get into position though”

Hunk nods and takes his lion out of the hangar, glancing back at Shay for a second.

“You okay?” He asks softly, turning his attention back to flying the lion.

“I am fine, just nervous” Shay said, closing her eyes for a second. 

“Lets do this then”

 

The yellow lion rose out of the atmosphere slowly; they were on the final stage of their experiment, the final factor in figuring out if it was safe for Shay to leave the balmera. Though only now were they realizing how dangerous this actually was. 

Just above the outer atmosphere, Hunk placed the yellow lion on auto, keeping her in place as he pulled away from the controls. He turned and looked at Shay who was still sitting on the bench, even hours later. 

“Shay?” he called softly, noticing how she was curled up and shaking slightly. With the lack of response, he stood slowly and walked over to her, placing one hand on her shoulder and the other on her cheek. “Shay?” he said again. 

Shay slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Hunk, breathing only short breaths and her eyes paler than usual. 

“You okay?” Hunk asked softly, now worried for the balmeran as she felt warmer than usual.

Shay only nodded and closed her eyes again. “I am just cold” She said softly, letting her head fall into Hunk’s head heavily. “And tired” 

Something did not seem right, Hunk’s mind raced through all the possibilities of what went wrong. All things pointing to signs of blood loss, but there was no way that could have happened. Then the obvious hit him; this was not exhaustion from their experiment nor fatigue from boredom; this is what happened when balmerans left the surface for too long. His eyes opened wide as he pushed Shay’s head up slightly. 

“Shay, I need you to stay awake okay?” He said quickly, trying not to alert her to any worry in his voice, but it looked like it didn't matter as Shay only barely responded.

He let her down slowly and pulled the harness over her frame quickly, practically diving back into the pilot seat once she was secure. 

“Hunk is everything alright?” Pidge’s voice came through the com, noticing Hunk’s urgency in the screen.

“No, its not its really not” He said quickly, pulling the lion off of auto quickly. He had to stop himself from putting the lion into a nosedive. 

“What’s going on?” Pidge said, sitting up in worry, ready to leap off to meet them if needed. 

“I think Shay’s going into some form of shock, I don't know but I need a stretcher ready when I get down there and either a cryopod ready or some balmeran healer” Hunk responded, pulling the lion down as fast as he could without damaging the lion itself. 

There was no response from pidge so the paladin just assumed and hoped that they had gone to do what he asked. He looked back at Shay every few seconds, just hoping to whatever deity there was in space that she was going to be okay. 

Those few minutes it took to get back to the castle seemed like hours and before he realized it he was back in the yellow lions hangar, rushing out of his seat quickly and down the hatch, Coran and an older balmeran were there when he exited and Hunk moved on autopilot, taking the one end of the floating stretcher and pulling it to the cockpit and moving Shay onto it. 

They moved quickly to the med bay. Everything to Hunk was just a sinking blur, no thoughts running through his mind aside from the fact that he needed Shay to be alright. 

But only when the blue and white sterile glow of the medbay and few crystals hit Hunk’s eyes did it all come to a stop. Hunk looked between the three figures and his hands, silently wondering why he even thought this was a good idea. 

His vision went blurry as he realized he was crying, not bothering to notice the others who came rushing to the entrance of the medical bay. The only thing that pulled him out of his tupor was someone taking his hand, tugging gently to get him out of the bay. Hunk rubbed his eyes with a free hand before looking over to see that it was Lance pulling him away. Their eyes met, Lance’s pleading look only pulling a nod from Hunk as they slowly moved out of the bay. 

Once in the hallway, Hunk moved to the side and leaned against the wall, pressing his face into his hands as he slid down it and a sob forced its way out of his throat.

“Its all my fault” He sobbed “Shay I’m so sorry”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry Shay  
> She went into a thing called Quintessence Shock, which is similar to blood loss but with quintessence instead, Coran is going to explain it all in detail next chapter so I wont worry about explaining it now. 
> 
> But go follow me on Tumblr (@confused-bird) for updates on this fic and my general ramblings and art things.   
> Dont forget to leave a comment! it really makes my day :-)


	4. I See The Universe in Your Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thing's will be fine, so long as you try

Shay was fine, for the most part. Someone explained what had happened to her in detail, although Hunk barely registered who it was and what they were telling him, still distraught by what had happened. He sat silently on the rec room couch, absentmindedly going through data and research on a very out of date tablet. He groaned lowly and set the device aside, curling in on himself. Even after researching for hours, he made no new progress towards finding any useful information about how to help Shay. 

He rubbed his eyes quickly, this was all his fault and he even couldn't find a solution. What a great boyfriend he was. Was he even Shay’s boyfriend? Do Balmerans even have relationships like that? Hunk didn’t know and all these thoughts were making him feel even worse. 

‘Great job Hunk! You’re worthless!’ He thought to himself, as he threw his hands up in the air. If he couldn't do this simple thing why was he here.

“Hey Hunk?” Lance’s voice emanated from the entrance. The yellow paladin flinched and looked over the side of the couch, quickly wiping his eyes.

“Yeah?” He said, trying not to let on how upset he was at the moment.

“Just checking in on you buddy” Lance hums and walks over to the couch, jumping over the edge and landing next to Hunk. “You good?”

“As good as I can be” Hunk sighed, sinking back into the couch. “I've been looking through book after book for something that can help with Shay’s situation and I haven't found  _ anything _ ” 

“Oh, sorry dude”

“I'm not cut out to be an engineer if I cant solve this stupid problem” Hunk mumbled, shrugging his shoulders with tears welling up in his eyes. “Maybe I should just go back to being the stupid fat food guy-”

“Hey hey hey now! No!” Lance interjects, offended by the others self-satirizing behavior, moving to sit on Hunk’s lap, grabbing the others face and making him look into his eyes. 

“Stop that, you’re not stupid” He quickly swiped his thumbs over Hunk’s cheeks, wiping away the spilled tears. 

“Who found the blue lion using Fraunhofer lines?”

“I did..”

“Who befriended the balmerans initially and got a crystal to save my life?”

“I did that..”

“Who’s intuition knew that Rolo and Nyma were a bad scene?”

“Me, but you guys didn't believe me”

“Either way, you’ve done a lot Hunk” Lance huffs, squishing the others face slightly. “If it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't be here, Allura and Coran would still be in the cryopods and Zarkon would still be ruling the universe.” a swift kiss was placed on Hunk’s forehead before he pulled away and looked dead into Hunk’s eyes.

“So don't let me  _ ever _ hear you talking bad about yourself again? Capish?” Hunk just nodded softly and let Lance hug him tightly, before moving off of his lap. Once Lance sits back normally on the couch he sighs softly, rubbing his temple. 

“Anyway, I came in here to tell you that Shay’s awake” He said softly, putting a hand on Hunk’s shoulder. 

“I don't think I can face her”

“Bull”

“Lance, im the one who put her in the situation” Hunk grimaced “All she wanted to do was leave with us to go to Keiria”

“And what would've happened if she did and you guys didn't do the experiment?”

“I-.. don't know”

“She’d probably be dead” 

Hunk just looked down again, guessing it really wasn't the worst thing he could’ve done. He still felt horrible about it though.

“Why don't you go find Coran and ask him if there was anybody similar to the balmerans? He’d probably know some stuff that castle books don't”

“I guess”

 

Hunk walked aimlessly through the castle halls, at the moment he had no idea where Coran could be. Well actually, he did, there were three possibilities that seemed most likely; The bridge, the engine room, or the medical bay. He really hoped that it wasn’t the med bay, he still couldn’t face Shay, but he just shook his head. He would need to get over this soon, just leaving Shay completely would break her heart, which he couldn't do at all.

The yellow paladin made up his mind and started off to the bridge, pretty sure that Coran was there. The walk up to the bridge was eerily quiet aside from the engines hum and his own footsteps, it made paranoia grow in his chest. 

What if there wasn't a way to help Shay?

What if she couldn't leave the balmera?

He just wanted the best for her. 

Hunk quickly pulled off his headband and pushed his fingers through his hair, he needed to stop thinking like this, it would only make him feel worse about the entire situation. 

It only took him a few minutes to get up to the bridge, and of course Coran was there. Hunk let out a sigh of relief and walked over him, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“Hey Coran” He sighed, walking up next to him.

“Ah! Hello number two!” The older altean said brightly, only glancing over at Hunk. though Hunk said nothing for a few seconds, trying to wrap his mind around what to even ask the older. In the end Hunk just sighed and looked out the screen glass, staring into the Balmeran sunrise that cast hues of orange and red onto the bridge. 

“Did you need something Hunk?” Coran said softly after a few minutes, pulling away from his controls. It seemed he sensed the uneasiness in the young paladin, even though he only nodded. 

“I’m assuming you came to ask questions about Shay” Hunk nodded again, this time looking down and picking at the skin of his thumb. “Well, then i’ll give you answers” Coran sighed, turning to face the other completely, leaning against the control panel. Hunk gulped slightly and looked up at the altean.

“Wh-...What happened to Shay?” He said quietly, trying to remain calm and rational. Coran scratched his mustache slightly, thinking of the best way how to explain what would come next so that he could understand.

“As you know, quintessence is a main part of any organisms existence,” Coran started, flipping his hand out in gesture. “Without it people just wouldn’t be able to function. It’s very similar to you humans concept of blood and electrical signals. So when that organism suddenly doesn't have enough quintessence, it ceases to function. That is called quintessence shock. After talking with the balmeran healer, it seems that balmerans don't generate their own quintessence; receiving it almost directly from the Balmera.”

“So thats why when we left the atmosphere Shay collapsed?” Hunk asked quietly; Such a foreign concept finally clicking the links in his head. With the older nodding silently, Hunk bit his lip with a furrowed brow; if such a definition existed, even ten thousand years ago, then maybe..

“Was there anyone like them ten thousand years ago?” Hunk asked, starting to feel a shred of hope.

“Of course, most species began like that.” Coran smiled slightly. “Though most adapted to not be as closely tied. My first love happened to be very similar to the balmerans, He wanted to come with us after diplomatic meetings ended with Altea and his planet.”

“Were you ever able to find a way how to get him off planet?” 

“I would hope so,” Coran laughed “Considering he became my husband and all”  his smile strained, remembering now that time was millenia ago and that the man he loved was long dead. Noticing the shift of mood, Hunk took a breath, unsure if he should comfort Coran, but he pressed on, finding this to be one of the only ways he could get information. 

“How did you do it?” He asked softly, trying to spare the other at least a little bit of pain. Coran’s face softened and he rubbed his eyes with a sigh. 

“Alfor and I researched as much as we could and found that the energy crystals that we used to power our ships could also be used to restore quintessence into a person’s body, this ignited the invention of the cryopods and Alfor helped me design a pendant to give to my husband.”

“Did it work?” 

“It did, and it lasted for as long as I can remember.” Coran said, crossing his arms loosely against his chest. “It was going strong until-... until the attack on altea.”

Hunk stared at Coran’s face for a few moments, he had found his answer, even if Coran was now upset.

“Thanks Coran” He finally said, reaching out tentatively and patting the older gentlemans shoulder. “I’m sorry, I-... I’ll make you cookies later?” He offered and smiled slightly, Coran only nodded and turned to the red-orange hued dawn.

“That would be nice” He smiled. 

 

“Okay Hunk seriously, We love you and all but  _ what are you doing _ ” Pidge asked, crossing their arms indignantly.

The team had barely scene Hunk after his conversation with Coran, and the sudden jump from lethargic to hyper focused, confused at least of few of them. In Pidge’s case, it annoyed her since usually when Hunk decided to start building something he would ask for their help but he didnt, and that sent a pang of betrayal into their chest 

A few moments later, Hunk finally looked up at the newcomer, finally acknowledging their presence and blinking a few times. 

“Oh hey, Pidge.” He said, apparently not hearing their initial question. “Need something?”

“What are you doing” They asked again, now looking over the others shoulder. There being several metallic flakes on his desk around a palm sized metal disk, with grooves encompassing it. “Correction, making”

A light blush creeped up Hunk’s face as he brushed off the disk and picked it up for Pidge to see better.

“It’s eventually going to be a pendant” Hunk answered, rubbing his thumb slightly in a few grooves. 

“A pendant?” Pidge queried, taking it from Hunk’s hand and flipping it over a few times. “What for?”

“Shay” Pidge gave him a slight look that made the yellow paladin look away. “Coran told me about a race of people from ten thousand years ago that were similar to the balmerans and that they were able to leave their planet with a quintessence crystal on their body… So I decided to make one for Shay, and maybe she can leave then”

“Have you even talked to her yet? How do you know that she still wants to leave?”

“I know Shay, she’s still going to want to.”

“Hunk, she almost died” Pidge argues softly, pressing the pendant down against the table. 

“Shay doesn’t just give up on her dreams!” Hunk yelled, gripping the carving tool on his desk. A look of realization dawns on his face as tears  well up in his eyes. He wiped them quickly and tooked the pendant quickly, running his thumb over each of the grooves. 

“I want to help her Pidge… And I want to know that this will help her..”

Pidge sighed and watched Hunk worriedly. If he needed this, they would help, that’s what friends are for. 

“Do you need help with the crystal?”

 

Hunk bounced excitedly and he fiddled with the small box in his hand and the basket around his arm. He had finished the pendant only an hour prior and couldn't exactly wait to give it to Shay. He had heard from Lance that Shay was in the med bay currently, coming back to be checked over one last time to make sure she was okay without any lasting effects. 

To be fair, Hunk’s level of anxiety was reaching a new high and he felt he was going to throw up, but doing that was not allowed to happen if he had any say in the matter. He took a deep breath and made his way into the medbay as Shay hopped down from the examination table. She looked over at the newcomer and smiled softly, walking over to meet him. 

“Hello Hunk” She said, glancing at the basket over his arm. “Is something going on?”

“Do you want to go on a date Shay?” Hunk asked quickly, his heart pounding a mix of excitement and anxiety. A few moments passed as Shay looked down at the yellow paladin, before nodding.

“I would love to” She smiles. Hunk lets out a small sigh of relief, part one of his anxiety solved, now for the rest of it.

“Would you-...” Hunk strained, talking another breath. “Would you be okay with heading into Yellow to watch the sunset?” Unease falls onto Shay’s face, she shifts uncomfortably.

“Hunk, I don’t-...”  
“Pidge took a patch from the med bay that’ll let them monitor your vitals in case anything happens, we’ll get back to the planets surface the moment you say you need to, or we don't have to at all”

“It is fine Hunk, what you suggested is fine” she said quietly, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Hunk bit his lip and nodded.

“Okay, let’s go then”

 

The familiar gold glow of the yellow lion was not the comforting detail it normally was, knowing that there was the chance that what happened previous, could happen again. Hunk looked over his shoulder to Shay, who was securing herself to the nearby seat. 

A warm presence filled his mind, one he recognized as his lion. He smiled as Yellow comforted him slightly and silently assured him things were going to be okay. A few moments passed as Hunk finally got the courage to pull the lion out of the hangar, slowly drifting up towards the sky, only to stop within a few miles of the Balmera’s outer atmosphere.

Hunk took a deep breath and put the lion on hover before standing up and turning back to Shay whose eyes were shut tightly.

“We’ve stopped” Hunk sai quietly, moving over to Shay. The balmeran finally opened her eyes and gave a strained smile to the other.

“You good?” he asks softly, cupping Shay’s face gently. 

“I’m fine” Shay said, leaning into Hunk’s hand slightly as she unbuckled the seatbelt. “What was your plan once we got up here?” It was apparent that Shay was much better than she was the last time they reached this altitude, but they had been doing that for several hours last time and currently they had only been there for a few minutes. 

“Come into the back section with me” Hunk hummed as he picked up the basket and box, leading Shay into the back half of the lion. He set the basket down and pulled out a blanket from inside it, laying it out on the floor and sitting on it, he motioned for Shay to sit down as well, which she promptly did. 

With a bit of mental talking with Yellow, the dark sides of the lions interior melted away to reveal the orange reds and purple of the balmeran sky. Shay’s eyes widened a bit as she looked out at it, seeing it from this height was much different from watching it from the surface. 

Hunk smiled softly as he watched her admire the sunset. After quickly grabbing the small box, he took a deep breath. The moment of truth. 

“Hey Shay” he said softly, trying not to show the pure excitement that vibrated in his core. She looked over, cocking her head slightly, a smile still on her face.

“Yes?”

“This is for you” He held out the box to her, watching her as she took it slowly, examining it a bit. 

“What is it?”

“Open it and find out” Shay looked at him quizzically before opening it slowly, shock showing on her face as she examined the pendant inside. 

“Hunk, it’s beautiful” She gasped, pulling it out by the chain. “Thank you so much”

“You’re welcome” He sighed, moving up slightly to help her hook it around her neck, she smiled softly and looked down where it rested against her chest.

 

The two ended up looking through the basket and munching on the goodie’s that Hunk had brought, talking lowly as they watched the red orange sky shift to purple and then the soft dark blue. Hunk and Shay were resting comfortably against each other when she suddenly bolted up, fear stricken.

“We have been up here for hours” She stated, looking down at Hunk who did not seem as frightened as she was.

“We have”

“Hunk!” She almost yelled, starting to get up. 

“Shay, pause a minute” He sighed, taking her arm gently and pulling her back down slightly. “How do you feel?”

“How do I feel!? My chest pounds and my mind races so fast I cannot think straight, I-!”

“Calm down Shay” He said, linking his fingers with hers, hoping the assuring warmth of the lions psychic presence would help. “Focus on how you physically feel” 

Shay sits back down, taking a few breaths as she mentally catalogued what was happening with her body physically. It is silent for a few beats aside from Shay’s loud breathing, her eyes widened in disbelief.

“I… I feel… Fine?” She breathes out, confused more than anything. Hunk smiles softly, so the plan did work after all, thank you Coran.

“Hunk!” Shay said, excitement filling her voice. “I feel fine! I’m fine!” Tears bubble at the corners of her eyes as she begins to laugh, they soon fall as she repeats ‘I’m fine’ for a few moments afterward, pulling Hunk into a tight hug.

“How?” She asks, finally letting go of the paladin. 

“The pendant” He answers, “It’s like a mini balmera all to yourself, highly concentrated quintessence in the small crystal at the center that feeds directly into your system. It’ll let you leave the balmera.” 

Shay stares at him for a few beats before wiping at her eyes. She reached forward an brushed Hunk’s cheek with her palm before wrapping it around the back of his neck and pulling him forward, pressing her forehead to his.

“Thank you Hunk, I love you”

“I love you too”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, i didnt actually mean to go on on a two chapter Hunay sidetrack but it happened  
> also sorry all the people who Ship Coran/Aflor, theyre best friends here, not lovers, theyre married men let them be.  
> https://sta.sh/01bjy8pzdeij this is what Shay's pendant looks like  
> and if you want to hear more about my ramblings about writing go follow me at confused-bird.tumblr.com


	5. Don't Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the team is on their way back to Keiria, they come across a seemingly abandoned ship with no tags in it to speak of. What was inside would shock all of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is unbeta'd again, I only finished this last night and my beta was busy again.

By the end of the fourth day the team was on the balmera, they had collected enough energy crystals to last at least a year, hopefully. Allura had spent much of her time on bedrest that day, having spent much of her quintessence giving back to the balmera. The rest of the team was pulling in the last of their supplies, saying goodbye to the balmerans who graciously helped them. 

The saddest part was Shay’s goodbye to her family, it was truly tearful. Shay hugging her parents and brother for the last time in too long. She wiped her eyes and made her way onto the castle ship, linking hands with Hunk who led her up to her room. 

The other members of the team was initially skeptical about her joining them, but soon gave in and enjoyed her presence.

It was mid afternoon by the time the castle finally took off. Shay looked out the window and watched as the balmera slowly got smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared.

Allura looked at her paladins fiddling around in their chairs. Pidge on their laptop, Hunk and Shay looking out to the stars, and Shiro, Lance, and Keith all talking quietly amongst each other. She smiled at the fact they all looked much more relaxed than from when they first left. Allura stepped down from her pedestals and walked over towards Shiro with a low hum. She slides up next to Shiro and makes him wrap his arm around her as she tunes into the conversation. 

“Alien are weird about their babies dude” Lance said, catching Allura off guard somewhat. “Like seriously, some of them just abandon their kid, some treat their kids like we do, some are hatched from eggs, and I think Balmerans are like Orcs and are just born out of the actual ground.”

“Lance, I love you but why are you even thinking about this” Keith sighed, rubbing his eyes softly.

“Because babies are cute and there a crapton on Keiria, like a weird thing I found out is that the frahale guys are born and the less than a year later, they are considered fully grown adults, which is actually kind of freaky if you think about it, but then not when you realize their lifespan is only like ten years”

“They’re kind of like ants” Shiro inferred, thinking about what he had learned about their culture. “Like, almost eerily similar”

“Now I’m thinking about little ants with frahale guys heads on them, thanks a lot Shiro” Lance huffed, crossing his arms. 

“What are ants?” Allura asked, looking between the three men.

“They’re little creatures back on earth that are like two millimeters that build giant underground nests” Lance explained, squishing his fingers together to show how tiny they really were.

“Yeah and when they sting you, it hurts a loooot”

“That’s just fire ants, Keith”

“You mean to tell me that there are ants that don't sting you?”

“Yeah, this is what you get for living in rural texas”

“Shut up Lance” 

“Make me” Shiro just rolled his eyes and looked down at Allura, smiling softly. 

“Anyway, with ignoring them. Did you need anything Allura?” She just shook her head with a sigh. 

“Not really, just wanted to be near you for a bit. We have a few quintents until we get back to Keiria and our desk jobs” Allura frowned, leaning against Shiro a little more heavily. 

“Can’t we just wormhole back there?” Shiro hummed, turning to wrap his arms around his girlfriend. The thought of actually calling her that made him giddy.

“Well for one, I am kind of avoiding heading directly back there as most of us want a bit more freedom before being constrained to a desk again. Secondly, I don't have enough quintessence to open up a wormhole, at least for a few varga’s”

“Dang” Shiro frowned, then shrugged lightly. “I mean, I know the team will at least enjoy another few days off.” Allura nodded and nuzzled into Shiro’s side with a soft sigh. She could spend hours in Shiro’s arms, such a warm presence comforting and soothing. 

The castles detection system started beeping rapidly, which pulled Pidge just enough out of what they were doing to check what it was detecting. The others in the room went quiet and watched as Pidge’s fingers flew across the keyboard. The rushed clicks soon slowed as the green paladins brow furrowed, pursing their lips.

“There’s a ship that’s just floating there” Pidge said, turning their gaze to Allura. “It’s not registering as galra or anything else. There’s no distress beacon either, even though it’s obviously broken down. It’s just… there”

“Maybe it’s a trap” Keith said, “What kind of ship just does that?” 

There was at least a little bit of logic in his statement, they hadn't seen a lot of galra cruisers -or any ship for that matter- for almost a year. There was the possibility that they were just hiding out on seemingly abandoned ships; but the fact that it wasnt registering made that seem less likely. 

“Run the scanner Pidge, see if there are any signs of life on it.” Shiro ordered, looking out the window to see if he could catch a glimpse of the ship. His arm pulled off of Allura slowly as he moved closer to the control panel, his own brow furrowing in thought.

“Finishing as we speak” They said, grabbing a nearby cord to make sure it was connected to their laptop. After making sure it was secure, Pidge sent it to the castle's computer and watched as a diagram of the ship unfolded in the hologram. There was a large yellow dot in the center of the ship, blinking slowly. There were several other smaller dots spreading off in single file lines in either direction, they were slowly fading in and out of existence. 

“What do you think that is?” Lance said softly, turning to look at Shiro and Allura. They would have to know at least something about this, right?

“I.. don’t know” Allura scowled, chewing on a hangnail anxiously.

“Should we go check it out? It’s possible that those are people down there-”

“Suit up” The princess ordered, still looking to the hologram, “If it were a trap, they would have attacked us by now. And since we know there are living things on board, there's a chance they’ll need our help” She turned to her paladins with a soft look on her face. 

“We head out in ten minutes”

 

The paladins cautiously exited their lions onto the dilapidated ships hangar. Lance was the first to flash his suits light around, examining the walls. They were falling apart slowly, broken parts of the metal walls just sitting stagnant for who knows how long, but everything else just seemed… there; like they hadn't been touched or moved since they day they were left, stuck in limbo.

“Pidge, where are the signals compared to where we are?” Shiro asked, turning on his own flashlight. He stepped over to one of the left crates to see that there wasn't even a speck of dust on it.

“If we head straight across the hangar we’ll meet a long hallway that's the center of the ship, each direction are the smaller fading dots and straight across from the hangar exit is the larger lifeform” They answered, recalling back to the ship’s hologram. Shiro nodded quickly and looked amongst his team.

“Hunk, Pidge, you two see if you can find the bridge, find any information you can about what this ship did” Shiro orders, crossing his arms. “Keith and Lance, you two check out the lifeform across from the hangar. Allura and I will check out the two hallways.”

The team nodded quickly and went off their separate ways. It made sense to pair up, they had no idea what was on this ship and splitting up was never a good idea. Shiro looked to Allura and sighed softly, she met his gaze with a small look of worry on her face.

“Ready for what we might find?” She asked softly, reaching to squeeze Shiro’s hand. Something about the ship made her uneasy.

“We have to be prepared for whatever we do find” Shiro said, walking into the hallway slowly. There were rows of doors down along the walls, each with a small window next to them. Shiro’s brow furrowed in confusion and worry as he noted that a couple of them had a faint blue glow emanating from them. With a quick glance to Allura and a silent nod, they walked over to the closest blue window, what was inside shocked both of them.

Small tubes barely sizable enough to hold a average human were centered in the back of the room. It was apparent that the blue glow was coming from the tube. Shiro stepped to the door and slowly opened it. He took a breath and walked inside cautiously, walking over to the tube. As he got closer, Shiro realized that there was a figure floating inside, it’s skin blended in with the blue of the tank, and long dark violet dreads -that were definitely not hair- drifted slowly around the figure.

The black paladin pressed his hand against the glass and the creatures eyes flew open, dark black eyes without any irises to speak of. A yelp escaped Shiro as he quickly snatched his hand back and the figure focused on him. 

Their mouth did not move but Shiro could hear their thoughts clear as day.

_ Do not let it escape _

_ Do not free it _

_ It is not what you think _

_ Please kill us _

The look on the creatures face dissolved into that of dread, their ‘voice’ pleading

_ We have been here long enough _

_ We are dying _

_ It will kill us if you do not first. _

 

Lance watched as Keith tried to open the large metal door with just brute strength. They had gone straight up to it after Shiro ordered them to check out the room on the other side, but it seemed that the atual door leading into that room was firmly shut and there really wasn't a way to open it. The blue paladin looked around slightly and noticed a faded button to the side of the frame, barely noticable. 

“Keith” Lance said, trying to get the others attention as he walked over to the button.

“What?” He huffed, panting from the exertion from trying to pry the door open.

“I found a button” 

“What…” Lance chuckled a bit and pressed the button, having to push a bit before it finally depressed. They both jumped as the door slowly opened, the sound of old stuck metal squealing as it moved from its spot. Keith covered his ears and winced, trying to block out the sound. It stopped a few minutes later and Lance walked over to Keith, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“Sorry about that” He said softly, rubbing the others shoulder. Keith just shook his head and sighed as he pulled his hands from his ears.

“It’s fine, let’s just go in now” He said, taking Lance’s hand before walking into the large room. The room was dark and void of movement aside from a large blue cylinder in the middle of the room, a blue light fading in and out from it, several tubes connected from the cylinder traveled to the wall and through it, also emanating that blue glow. Lance frowned and stepped closer to the tube, trying to see inside it. 

“Dude, it looks like there’s a giant shrimp in there” He said, turning back to look at Keith. “Except its glowing blue and has something like a metal shell” 

“I wonder what this control panel is for” Keith hummed lowly, making sure not to accidentally press anything. Lance cocked his head slightly and walked back over to the red paladin, looking at what he was. 

“It looks like its monitoring the giant shrimps vitals” Lance hummed, brushing off one of the monitors. It didn't have much on it except a heart monitor type thing. “Or something like that”

Keith hummed lowly, looking at a few of the labels on the panel. It took him a few moments but he recognized the lettering as galran. 

“Hey Lance…?”

“Yeah?”

“I think this is a galra ship” Lance looked up at the other in alarm, quickly snatching his hands away from the panel.

“What makes you say that!?”

“The labels are written in galra”

“So then do you think…?”

“Giant shrimp is a robeast? Yeah...:”

Lance took a few steps back, pressing his hands to his helmet as he paced back and forth.

“What should we do? We can't just leave it there! It'll like, come out eventually! And attack someone!”

“Maybe there’s a destroy button? Like one that’ll shut down whatever life support is keeping it alive so it dies?” Keith offered, looking over all of the buttons hurriedly. Every label was in galra, and there were even buttons without labels. Though Keith quickly narrowed it down to two buttons. 

“I can’t tell which of these would be the button to self destruct it” Keith huffed, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Lance had joined up beside him and gripped the others arm, trying to figure it out with him. 

“Maybe it’s the red one?” Lance said shakily. “Red usually means ‘hey blow me up’” 

“That would be too obvious, like they’re just expecting someone come up and press it.”

“Then the gray one” 

“But that could also be the release because whoever designed this would know that an enemy could come in here and think the grey button is the self destruct because the red would be too obvious” Lance turned and gave Keith the  _ look _ with a huff. 

“That does not help at all, which button do you think it is”

“Either both or neither”

“Keith”

“Just choose one it’s a fifty fifty chance that i’ll be correct” Keith breathes out, biting his lip nervously. They were both silent for a few seconds before Lance took a deep breath and punched the gray button.

 

Shiro stepped back from the tank as the figures voice started echoing and overlapping, like more voices joined in the torrent of pleads. Hands came up against his sides and he turned to see Allura’s wide eyes staring up at him in concern. Her mouth moved but Shiro couldn't hear her voice, he turned back to the figure who know scrambled against the glass, getting more feverant than before. 

Then it screamed.

Shiro’s knees buckled and Allura was the only thing keeping him standing. The figure contorted in the tank, their mouth stretched open in pain. The blue of the tank slowly drained away until figure was dull and the room was dark. 

Then silence. 

Allura helped Shiro up and kept her arm around his waist, using her other hand to make him look at her with a grip of his jaw.

“Shiro what happened?” she said, clearly worried about him.

“I-... I think it’s dead?” he whimpered softly, blinking his eyes to try and clear his double vision. Allura frowned and looked between the tank and Shiro, about to comment on what he said when the shadows seemed to move. They both froze and stared as the shadows burst from their confinements, swirling around them to evacuate the room. The two clung to each other until the shadowy mass has passed them by. What even was that? 

Shiro grabbed Allura’s hand and rushed from the room, looking down the hallway to see that it was completely dark, the blue glow from the rooms had faded just like the one they watched; but the black mass was rushing down the hallway and soon disappeared.

“What… happened?” Allura said softly, squeezing Shiro’s hand tightly. The black paladin ignored her though, quickly turning his communicator on.

“Keith, Lance!? What did you do!?”

 

Pidge’s com crackled as Shiro yelled at the other two. They stopped paying attention to the file transfer from the ship's computer and listened for a second. They met Hunk’s eyes and nodded, quickly detaching their laptop and following the yellow paladin as they rushed down, meeting up with Shiro and Allura. 

No one could get ahold of Keith and Lance, only getting radio static in return. 

Shiro was the first to race off, getting shouts from the others who soon followed. Keith and Lance were in trouble, he knew it. 

 

Keith and Lance clung to each other, shielding their eyes as the giant shrimps tank slowly got brighter, almost blinding. Echoing screams filled their minds as the tubes from the tank detached, the glow slowly fading. The only sound after that was the tank slowly opening.

They should move, shouldn't they? Get out of here as fast as they can and get into their lions, preparing for a fight; But they couldn’t move. The creature let out a giant roar, which finally broke the two out of their paralyzed state. 

They ran out of the room quickly, running into the rest of the gang.

“Keith-! Lance-!” Shiro started “What’s going on-!?”

“No time to explain we need to get out of here!” They yelled, running into the hangar quickly. The rest of the team didn't bother asking why as the creature started trying to get out of the room that contained it. 

Everyone was soon in their lions and Shiro turned on his com, directing his attention to Keith and Lance, who seemed a bit guilty. 

“What happened you two” He said, keeping the bite out of his voice. 

“We were trying to find a self destruct button on the control panel but I pressed the wrong one and released it” Lance said, taking the blame for releasing the robeast. 

“Do you have any idea what it is?”

“It looks like a giant shrimp”

“The files I found from the ships computer doesn't have any name listed for it” Pidge said “They only call it Project  Krevieka, it’s basically a robeast”

“Any info on what it does?”

“It's all corrupted after that point, I wasn't able to get the whole file”

Shiro let out an irritated sigh, his mind racing quickly as he thought of a plan. Before he could say anything, the Robeast bust out from the ship. It roared again and started flying up towards the lions.

“I did not expect that” Hunk yelped, pulling his lion back quickly. 

“It’s an eldritch horror!” Pidge yelled, pulling up their lion next to Hunk’s.

The robeast flew forward and reeled back before spitting a clear liquid onto blue lion. A disgusted noise came from Lance as he tried to fly his lion back.

“What the quiznack!?” The paladin yelled, trying to get his lion to shake off the goop, but it did not come off easily. “Blue’s thrusters are clogged! She can barely move!”

As Lance continued trying to get the goop off, the robeast moved quickly- too fast for the paladins to actually see. It grabbed the blue lion before anyone could get out a warning to Lance.

He screamed and pushed Blue’s thrusters to their max, but they were still clogged and she couldnt move. Tentacles from the robeasts jaw darted out and attached themselves to the blue lion, glowing a bright blue like they had before. The yellow glow of the lions eyes flickered and Lance tried pulling away. 

“Blue’s losing quintessence!” Lance said to the others, giving them idea of what was happened. “I can't get this thing off of me!”

There was a sudden crash as the Yellow lion barreled into the creature, knocking it off of Blue. They spiralled for a few seconds before Yellow gave the other lion a boost up to the others. 

Keith flew forward and shot at the creature, only to have everyone dodge as it reflected the shots back. 

“Its like that cube thing we fought back on Olkarion a long while ago!” Pidge noted, dodging quickly as the creature sped up and tried snatching at their lion. “I don't think my vines will work with this guy though!”

“Shiro what should we do!?”

The black paladin held his breath, thinking quickly about all the possible ways they could fight the robeast. A simple misstep in his orders could leave one if not all the lions powerless. He had to think-

“Shiro!”

“Form Voltron!” 

The coms went silent for a beat as they piloted their lions closer together, feeling the familiar tug of being drawn together. Shiro glanced anxiously over at the robeast which began charging up again, seemingly preparing to shoot its goop once again at the lions. 

Voltron formed just in time, activating the shield to block the liquid shot at them. 

“Keith form sword, lets try cutting it in half!” Shiro ordered, waiting only a split second before charging the creature- It roared and started moving forward, attempting snatch at Voltron.

“Keith now!” The sword came down diagonally through the creature, splitting it completely. The thrusters pushed them back from the creature as it snatched again, but then it went still, the blue glow pulsing from it starting to still.

“Woohoo! Got it!” Lance cheered, thrusting his hands up in the air. 

“I dont think its dead yet” Keith growled, focusing on the pulse grow rapidly and the two halfs start to drift towards each other. The pieces touched each other and the pulse glowed brightly for a moment. Did it just-...

“It healed itself!” Pidge huffed

“Thats cheating!” Lance yelled, leaning forward in his seat. “How are we supposed to destroy it if it can heal itself!?”

“Maybe we have to cut it up into smaller pieces” Keith offered, fighting back the growl in his voice. Amidst their arguing the creature roared again, speeding forward once more.

“Hunk thrusters!” They dodged left swiftly, narrowly avoiding the robeast hitting them. 

“Keith!”.

“On it!” Keith’s sword slashed and cut several times until the beast was barely recognizable. They flew back and watched the robeast, a tense silence falling over the paladins as one of the small chunks of robeast began pulsing again, pulling all the pieces together once again. 

“This piece of sushi cant be serious!!”

“What about that glowing part? What if thats the brain or whatever that's letting it get back together!”

Shiro sucked in a breath, watching as the pulse grew, it definitely looked strongest at that point, it looked like the robeasts crown.

“Hunk, canon! Aim for that spot where the glow is the brightest!” Shiro ordered, biting his lip with hope he was right. He felt as the yellow lazer canon formed on Voltron’s shoulder. The aiming system in front of Hunk focused on the glowing pulse as the robeast roared once more, clearly getting annoyed by being destroyed. 

“Now!”

The lazers fired from the canon quickly, piercing through the robeasts crown. Then it began to fall, losing its blue glow slowly. 

The living shadows came out of nowhere as they swarmed in past Voltron, swirling around the dying robeast. The paladins sat in silence as they watched it happen, they couldnt see anything, and before they knew it, the swarm left, disappearing off into space, not even leaving the robeasts body.

“What… was that?” Hunk said softly, only getting a head shake from Shiro. 

“I don't know, but lets head back to the castle” 

 

The team gathered around the rec room, all sitting on the couch in there. An unspoken question hung in the silent room, multiple questions really. Shiro sighed softly and looked to his team, each looking tired from the battle but better than they had been being stuck on Keiria.

“So....” Shiro started quietly, slowly standing up. “I think we have some things to talk about.” the others nodded, not really giving a response to his statement. “We have no idea what that black swarm was, do we?”

“It came out of nowhere” Pidge said, looking up at Shiro. “I didn't have time to examine it, the only thing I could infer from it was that it eats quintessence or something.”

“So we need to find out what that was, since it’s possible that it could be dangerous.” He crossed his arms, the only other thing he needed to bring up now was the existence of the ship itself; he shuddered at the thought. “I'm gonna take an educated guess and say that ship was a galra testing ship, and if that was was just drifting there, who’s to say that there aren't more, with countless more robeasts on them”

“We need to do something about them” Keith piped up, pulling away from where he was wrapped around Lance.  “Leaving them to just sit when galra resurgents could just come in and activate them isn't a good idea”

“You're right, but we have our duty to Keiria” 

“Voltron’s first responsibility is the universe” Allura said, standing and moving next to Shiro. “I’ve been meaning to bring this up but I guess now is a good time”

“What is it?” Shiro hummed, linking his fingers with Allura’s, watching her softly. 

“We all have been doing better on a mental standpoint by being out and in action, and staying on Keiria permanently is not an option, our work is not yet done in the universe.”

“Get to the point Allura” Keith sighs, earning a glare from both her and Lance. 

“I suggest that after Keiria is sustainable by itself and its government is firmly in place; we leave, go on an indefinite mission to clear out old galra ships like the one we saw today, it's possible that resurgents still exist on them, waiting and plotting. Not to mention we haven't found Haggar and her druids yet. But we need to continue forward”

The room went silent, staring at Allura for a few seconds before glancing around each at each other. The idea of finally being back in action excited most of them, but it was also terrifying. Nights without sleep because people decide to attack hour after hour. Shiro squeezed Allura’s hand, knowing she had a point. 

“I think it's a good idea” He said softly, getting a few nods from the others. “But for right now, I think we just need to go home”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cant write fight scenes for the life of me, I tried my best though. And if youre wondering, the Robeast is based on Hagfish and [ This eldritch horror i found ](http://www.gramunion.com/lekyrin.tumblr.com/170030898080) as well as the speed thing from the thunderblight ganon fight from breath of the wild.  
> There is a chance i might not update next week because i've mostly run out of spoons for a while.  
> but anyways, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to hit me up on [ Tumblr ](confused-bird.tumblr.com)


	6. It’s Time For A Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its been a year since the founding of Keiria and the people want to hold a ball in celebration. Its up to the paladins to plan this party and find ways to tell the people that they are leaving and talk to each other about their feelings

“A ball?” Allura questioned, looking amongst the ambassadors that had come up to her desk. 

“It has been a year since the creation of Keiria, it is a milestone we believe should be celebrated.” The Osetet ambassador said, “Many in the populace believe this as well” 

Allura hummed lowly, thinking for a few moments about the idea of a ball. She had been meaning to tell the council that Voltron had been planning to leave Keiria soon. Now would possibly be a good time for her to explain that, as leaving it unannounced the day of the ball would not be the best idea.

“I don't see why we can't have a ball, it can also be a fare thee well for the Castle and Voltron.”

“A fare thee well?”

“The paladins and I are planning to leave within the month”

“But you cannot-!”

“We can, and we will” She said sternly, casting a glare. The ambassadors watched as she slowly stood and smoothed out her skirts. She could definitely be intimidating when she wanted to be. 

“Voltron is the defender of the universe, and it cannot be constricted to just simply Keiria” Allura stated, her tone causing the other ambassadors to flinch back. It was times like these that made Allura feel more authoritative than she had in awhile. “We have a duty to uphold and we will do that duty” Allura sat back down with a huff, rubbing at her forehead a bit. She would go see the others after this, take a break from all the work. 

“So about the ball…?”

“Yes, we will have a ball” Allura snapped with a pinch to the bridge of her nose. “The paladins and I will organize it, now get back to your duties”

The ambassadors quickly filed out of the office, almost trampling each other in their attempt to get out. She sat in silence for a few beats before opening her newly developed ‘cell phone’ -as the paladins seemed to call it- and called Shiro, who picked up after a few seconds. 

“Yes Princess?” His voice came softly through the speaker. 

“Are you doing anything currently?” She asked, her voice tired.

“Nothing that can’t be done later” 

“You should bring me up some food or take me out to lunch” Allura smiled at hearing the soft chuckle on the other side of the line.

“Can do, will do, Princess”

 

Shiro and Allura returned to the castle after their little excursion, quickly heading up to the lounge. The Princess had made sure to message everyone else to meet them there as she still needed to tell them about the ball. 

The faint sound of the other paladins talking in the lounge made Allura smile a bit, squeezing Shiro’s hand softly.

“So Pidge” Lance’s voice emanated from the lounge “Did you ever finish the camera thing?” 

“Oh yeah I did” They hummed, looking over to the newcomers and giving them a slight wave. “I ended up implementing a basic version into the phones I gave you guys”

“Ohhhh, what about the cube?” 

“It still works, it’s just a server, sort of, to archive all the pictures we take”

Lance nodded, scratching his chin a bit. Yeah that did make sense, seeing as they got into scuffles more often than not. He finally looked up at the the two after a few seconds and smiled. 

“Hey!” he said, kneeling up on the couch beside Keith. “Allura, you said you wanted to talk to us about something?”

“Yes, actually” Allura smiled, moving closer to the couch. A glimmer of joy sparkled glistened in her eyes as she revealed the plan to her paladins “There’s going to be a ball, and we’re going to plan it”

“There are a lot of ways that could go wrong you know” Pidge pipped up, making a face at Allura. “And why are we the ones planning it?”

“Partially because I trust you all more than the ambassadors and the customs of earthling decorum are interesting” Allura purrs, pulling Shiro onto the couch so she could cuddle up next to him easily. 

“Oh man, Allura” Hunk laughs “That’s harsh, but thank you for trusting our non-existent decorating skills”

“Speak for yourself Hunk” Lance retorts, sending a playful punch over in the others direction. “I like to think I’m pretty decent at decorating stuff”

Allura smiled to herself. It good to see that her paladins were still in such good spirits. She let out a pleased sigh and leaned on Shiro more.

“So you all don’t mind planning the party?” She asked, looking over at the others.

Most of them shook their heads, Lance bouncing up and dropping his hands onto his hips. 

“This will be the best party the planet has seen! I will organize the entire thing!” He declared before being pulled back down by Keith with a giggle. 

“Sure it will” Keith hummed, resting his chin on Lances shoulder. 

“I can set up lights and music stuff” Pidge noted, setting up a few things on their laptop. 

“Hunk and Shay can make food, I’ll decorate, and Keith can help me when he’s not off being Emo- ow!” Lance squeaked, slapping his hand back to hit Keith for pinching his hip at the comment. “Rude”

“You’re more rude” 

“Boys” Shiro sighed, the signature Dad voice coming out.

“Anyway, thank you all for helping set this up.” Allura said, sitting up a bit “I think it will mean a lot to the people of Keiria, though I think they’re still upset about us leaving”

“There are usually three reactions when Voltron helps someone” Pidge hummed, setting their laptop aside. What a rare sight indeed. “The people being grateful to us and being fine if we leave, the people wanting us to stay and protect them full time, and the people wanting us to leave immediately because of the destruction we bring”

A tense silence encompassed the room. They all knew of the destruction wrought by Voltron fighting on planets. Zarkon’s empire might have caused mass destruction across the universe but as much as the voltron paladins tried to justify it, they still did almost as much damage to the environments around them. 

“Anyway” Lance hummed, trying to lighten the mood a bit. “Should we have a movie night tonight?”

 

Pidge groaned lowly as they placed the audio mixer on the table, huffing quietly as Hunk set down the speakers on either side of it. There was a small scraping sound causing the two to look over by the entrance to see Lance trying to pull all of the lighting equipment in by himself.

“Dude, Lance” Hunk sighed, walking over and grabbing the other side of the box to help him lift it, “Why didn't you ask for help?”

“You guys were already carrying stuff” He pouted, making sure to carefully look back as they carried the box over, setting it down carefully next to the few boxes of decorum.

“You’re a dummy, I could've helped you”

“Fight me”

Hunk hummed and straightened out his back, looking at Lance with a mischievous look in his eyes. Lance frowned at the other and started backing up.

“Hunk..? buddy? What are you doing?” 

Hunk charged and headbutted Lance, pulling him over his shoulders quickly with a laugh.

“HUNK WHY” Lance screamed, squirming against his shoulders. “WHY DO YOU DO THIS” The yellow paladin only laughed and bounced around, jostling the other on his shoulders.

“Watch the equipment!” Pidge yelled, barely paying attention to the others as they hooked up wires. 

“You told me to fight you, and this is what happens” 

“Hunk put me down please”

“Maybe” 

Lance only whined and went limp, before turning to look over at Pidge, still dangling helplessly from Hunks shoulders.

“Hey so subject change, have you talked to Matt recently?” They froze. Oh right, Matt. 

“Sort of” Pidge mumbled, plugging the last few chords in quickly. 

“Did you ask him about coming to visit Keiria?”

“No, he’s across the universe right now” They snapped, turning to glare at Lance only for their face to fall a beat later, rubbing at their eyes a bit. 

“Sorry dude…”

“It's fine, he’s gathering intel and doing research. Stuff he likes to do” Pidge said, not letting on to the hurt in their heart. They had found Matt, Matt had helped in Zarkons defeat. But then he left, only pressing a kiss to their forehead saying he was going to try and find dad. The only real communications they've had were sparse space-skype calls when they both were not busy. Pidge sighed and leaned their head back, staring at the ceiling, this wasn’t the time to think about this though.

“Anyway, I’m gonna need you guys to hang up the lights for me”

 

Keith bounced on the balls of his foot as he paced in front of Shiro’s door. Keith actually had absolutely no idea how to handle his current situation. He flinched as the door opened and a very tired looking Shiro leaned against the frame. Crap, he’s not ready for this conversation. 

“Keith you’ve been pacing in front of my door for the past ten minutes” He sighed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “You came to talk or ask something so are you going to do it or not?”

Their eyes met as Keith bit his lip. By this point, frankly ten minutes ago, Shiro knew something was up with Keith, no doubt about that. A low sigh came out of his mouth as he pushed off the door. 

“Come on, let’s talk in my room”

 

Lance was not upset, he was completely fine, there was nothing for him to be upset about. He just missed Keith that’s all, considering that his  _ boyfriend  _ was avoiding him like the goddamn plague.

Okay so maybe Lance was a little bit upset, but could you blame him? 

The blue paladin stared at Keith as he quietly slipped out of the room while he thought nobody was watching. He frowned a bit and flopped over the side of the couch, staring up at the ceiling. 

“Hey Hunk?” Lance asked dejectedly, rolling the hem of his shirt in his hands slowly. Hunk only gave a small sound of acknowledgement, painting a layer of clear lacquer onto Shay’s nails.

“Does Keith seems to be acting weird to you?” 

“Not really, he’s just being the brooding emo he normally is”

“But he’s avoiding me like I did something to annoy him”

“Maybe you smell bad to Keith?” Shay offers, looking around at the blue paladin. Lance sat up with an offended look on his face. 

“Me!? Smell bad!? As if! I shower every day!” He huffed, crossing his arms tightly. 

“That is not what I meant” Shay hummed “Galra have heightened senses and it is possible they are like us balmerans and have certain aura like smells” She noted the apparent confusion on both of the boys faces and hummed quietly.

“Young balmerans before they can see, recognize their parents by specific smells that only belong to one person, we call it  _ extxnta,  _ it never goes away and it is the reason why those of with bonds will press our foreheads together, sharing our  _ extxnta  _ with each other

Hunk blinked a couple times, staring at Shay in shock. 

“Wait so, do we have an ect- zunta?” He asked, quickly capping the nail lacquer.

“ _ Extxnta, _ and yes, all beings have one” She smiled. 

“Whats ours?”

“Well, to me, Hunk’s is like those yellow flowers he showed me a few weeks ago, I think they were called sunflowers? Yes? Lance, yours is salty and sweet. Pidge is like electricity, Keith is smoke, Shiro is metal, Allura is juniberries, and Coran is rain.”

“Huh” Lance said, practically at a loss for words, maybe he did have an offensive smell to Keith. “I think… I think I'm gonna go talk to keith, or try to at least”

 

Lance hummed as he poked his head into the training room, spotting keith beating up a gladiator with quick swift movements. He always liked watching Keith fight, it was a bit uncoordinated at times but each thrust and swing had power behind it that made prettttty hot. 

“Hey Keith” Lance called, causing the red paladin to flinch and stop fighting the gladiator. He must have said ‘end training sequence’ as the bot quickly disappeared back into the castle. 

“Oh uh, Hey Lance” He coughs awkwardly, stepping over to meet him. “Need something?”

“You”

“Oh”

“Why are you avoiding me?” Lance asked straight out, trying not to show the genuine hurt in his chest. 

“What? I’m not avoiding you!” Keith objects, disarming his bayard quickly. 

“Then why have you barely spoken to me the past few days”

“I-... I haven't really wanted to talk to anyone recently, I’ve been busy with secret blade stuff”

“You’re lying”

“What, no I'm not!”

“One, you’ve been talking to Pidge, Shiro, and Allura, and two, your ears just twitched, they do that when you lie” Keith quickly clapped his hands over his ears with an embarrassed flush on his face.

“They do?”

Lance let out a small laugh. “Crap, I forgot you were so cute sometimes”

“Shut up”

“Anyway” Lance sighed, having caught his breath and pulled Keith’s hands down from his ears. “Why haven't you been talking to me babe? Do I smell bad?” The later half of the comment earned Lance a look but Keith only sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“I've been busy planning a surprise for the party… and I’ve kind of forgotten to actually talk to you because it involves… you” Lances face softened into a smile, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist loosely. He propped his chin up onto the others chest to look up at him sweetly. 

“Am I allowed to have any clues to the surprise~?” Keith only shook his head, earning a small pout from Lance. 

“It’s a secret hon, but I know you’re gonna love it. And sorry for ignoring you” 

“You are forgiven, to be honest I thought you were gonna break up with me” Keith’s eyes open wide as he stares at Keith. 

“What!? No! I love you too much”

“Good, promise me you’ll never leave me Keith” He only smiled and leaned down, tilting Lance’s chin up softly.

“As you wish” He whispers and kisses the other softly

“Ugh, They’re doing the kissing Hunk. Why do we have to walk in on the kissing” Pidge’s voice huffed from the doorway, letting them all erupt into laughter.

So things were going to be okay, weren't they.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh boy, I'm kind of vibrating because i've almost finished this fic.  
> Also world building the balmerans and just,,, all the aliens is fun because the show doesn't really do that.  
> A buuuunch of stuff is happening next chapter so stay tuned ;)  
> If you have any comments/questions/concerns feel free to hit me up on [ Tumblr ](http://confused-bird.tumblr.com/)  
> (p.s. no one made comments about the princess bride reference in the previous chapter so I made them a bit more obvious this time on accident lol)


	7. Through The End Of It All I Wanted You The Most

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thus the ball began  
> And those close became closer  
> When the clock struck twelve

The party was going well at the moment, even if it did seem relatively tamer than expected. They had barely finished putting out the decorations and food before the people began arriving, filing in pairs or groups and talking amongst themselves. Frankley, Allura thought it was boring, as she sat in a chair, alone against the wall. Where was everyone anyway? She knew Hunk and Shay were off in a corner, keeping to themselves, and Keith and Lance had gone and raided bits and pieces of the food before going off and dancing while Pidge finally began the music. She was kind of glad that she was on the side as the people heard the music, as the floor was soon crowded with people. Quiet of a few people bumping into each other and others straight up being booted off the floor.

Allura watched as the mania quickly died down, people of all species twirled across the floor, dresses and shoes moving like a torrent around each other in an elegant dance. The music, light and energetic, though mostly drowned out by the murmur of chatter by the people. A small sigh slipped out of her mouth as she slowly stood, looking around for where Shiro had disappeared off to. Her dress practically fluttering around her as she floated across the room, the silken fabric trying to act like its lighter than air, though it certainly felt like it of course. She hummed softly as she slipped through the crowds of people, soon locating the black paladin talking with Pidge over by their mixer. She stepped over and slid up next to Shiro, linking her arm around his.

“Hey Allura” He hummed softly and leaned down, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek, decidedly ignoring the disgusted scoff from Pidge.

“Am I interrupting?” she asked, looking between the two quickly.

“Not really” Pidge sighed, sitting back against the steps onto the stage a bit. “We’re not talking about much” Shiro nods and wraps his arm around Allura’s waist, letting her lean into him.

“We’re talking about what Keith’s planning on doing later tonight” Shiro said, nodding over in the direction of the two, who seemed to be laughing as they joked around with their food. “At least we put a few drinks out that are strictly non-alcoholic for everyone. At least last time I checked”

“At least Coran didn't break out the nunvil right?” Pidge noted, shuddering at the thought of the disgusting liquid.

“I’m starting to seriously think nunvil is like alcohol” Shiro sighed with a shake of his head.

“What’s alcohol?” Allura hummed, cocking her head slightly. “You all keep bringing up these things that I have no idea what are”

“Sorry about that-”

“Alcohol, at least the drinking kind, is fermented sugars. Basically it’s ethanol” Pidge explained, leaning back and crossing their legs.

“But ethanol is an antiseptic, is it not? We use it to disinfect our wounds?” Allura said, shuddering at the thought of someone even ingesting such liquids, strictly not remembering the few times she tasted it as a child. Pidge only shrugged, tossing their hands in a flippant manner.

“People put sugar and stuff in it to make it taste good, personally I don't see why though ”

“Frankly it sounds absolutely disgusting”

“It's an acquired taste” Shiro shrugs, rubbing Allura’s shoulder. “Aside from a few parties, I didn't drink that much back on earth”

“I believe Matt would completely .disagree with that statement” Pidge snarked, their lips pulling up in their usual cattish grin.

“That traitor! I can't believe he broke the rule!’” Shiro gasped, earning a slight nod from Pidge. “What happens in the dorm, stays in the dorm" he quickly added for Allura’s benefit. She gave them a quizzical look before just shrugging it off, understanding the general concept of what they were saying.

“Anyway” Allura side tracked, pulling away from Shiro with a small purr. “It’s almost time for the toast, so I think i’m going to go get a glass of loval before I have to say a speech” She walked away with a soft sway of her hips, moving through the partygoers, and soon out of sight.

“Do you have any idea what loval is?”

“Nope”

 

Allura climbed onto the stage about three varga into the night, holding a glass in her hand as Pidge dimmed the lights across the room, focusing bright ones on the podium where Allura now stood. People across the room quickly shushed each other as the princess waited for their attention.

“People of Keiria!” She called, wincing as the audio feedback squealed from the speakers. She waited for the feedback to quiet down before starting again.

“People of Keiria, we have gathered here today to celebrate the one year anniversary of our establishment of this planet. A year ago, it was nothing but a small colony hanging desperately to the threads of hope that it would survive, and now; it is a planet full of people and life, and a civilization only growing by the movement. To this, I raise a toast to our accomplishments” The princess raised her glass, as she scanned the room. Many raising their glasses as well with a soft murmur of ‘to our accomplishments’. She smiled at the response, keeping her glass raised as she went into the next line.

“We have many plans for what is to come, and we strive to keep hope in our future!”

“To the future”

“And finally to the planet, to our Keiria. May she prosper and we stay here always”

“To Keiria”

“Now go and enjoy your night, dance and have fun. As Voltron leaves you will realize that you are strong on your own and don't need our protections”

Allura sighed softly and finally took a sip of her drink, curtsying to the shell shocked crowd before walking off quickly, keeping the skirt of her dress in her hands. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked up at Shiro who came to meet her.

“You’re pretty good at making toasts” He hummed softly, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek.

“I learned a lot when I was younger” She giggled, pushing him off lightly. “Either way its nothing really, just say words that motivate the people or celebrate the cause” a small sigh came out of Allura’s mouth as she rested her head against his chest, a soft smile creeping up on her face as Shiro wrapped his arms around her.

“You did good though” He purred, slowly walking backwards towards the wall, guiding his princess with ease.

“I think i’ll take your praise” Allura laughed, leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss him softly.

“You ready for the main event?” He mumbled against her lips softly, nodding his head in the direction of the main floor. Allura pulled away a bit and looked to where he was looking. Together they watched as Keith and Lance gravitated back onto the floor

 

The music changed to a more light sound, lights that faded to blue and red scattered across the room. Soon Keith and Lance were the only ones still dancing on the floor, but it was obvious they didn't care. They spun around slowly, feet never tangling and tripping over each other. For once they didn't care they were being stared at, just having fun as Lance moved out, holding Keith’s hand as their arms snapped straight and he spun back into Keith’s arms. They laughed quietly as quick kisses were shared in the moments they got extremely close.

Keith was anxious as all hell. His surprise safely kept away in his pocket, waiting for the perfect time to slow down and do what he was planning. He kept his hands wrapped around his Blue’s, memorizing how soft they were. Oh god this was actually happening, he was going to do it. He was actually going to do this. He pulled Lance close as he squeezed his hands softly, brushing over his knuckles. Their eyes met, Keith looking into the deep endless sapphire of his eyes. He smiled and backed away, their movements slowing as the song came to its end. The weight of the box in his pocket made him freeze for a second, but he couldn't, he had to do this now. Did his heart really have to start hammering in his chest?

Lance cocked his head at his Red who suddenly stopped and reached into his pocket.

“The next song is about to start playing babe" he said softly  “you want to keep dancing?” He reached out, going to touch Keith's arms softly.

“You know I love you, right Lance?” Keith suddenly asked, keeping his hand buried deep in his pocket.

“Of course, we wouldn't be together if you didnt" he laughed, stepping close and wrapping his arms around the others neck, hips swaying to the soft beat.

“I love you more than you can imagine" Keith smiled “My heart races every time I look at you, each time I get lost in the endless sea of your eyes. Every time I have to leave; i think of you and how much I miss you"  Lance blushed lightly, glancing away. His heart starting to pound in his chest as he began putting together what Keith's words meant.

“Keith… what are you getting at?” He asked softly, looking up at Keith. He watched as his Red pulled out of his arms and took the small box from his pocket. Lances breath caught in his throat as he watched Keith move back and slowly drop onto one knee. It almost seemed like Keith's voice echoed in his mind

“Lance Michel Tomas Vasquez McClain… would you do me the honor of being my right hand, to have and to hold, forever?”

Oh.

Oh shit.

Lance only stared at the silver band inside the box, moving back slightly as his hands came up over his mouth, choking out a sob. Out of all the things he expected, this was least. Tears began to prickle his eyes as raw emotion filled his being.

“Lance…?” Keith asked softly, anxiously waiting for his response.

He nodded.

The smile that came onto his Red’s face would forever be ingrained in his mind. He leapt up quickly, wrapping his arms around Lance’s middle, hugging tightly as they ended up spinning around.

The crowd around them applauded, cheering for them as they clung to each other tightly, only pulling away to kiss passionately, clinging to each other like only a simple movement could separate them forever.

 

The princess leaned into Shiro softly, sighing softly as they watched the newly engaged couple danced across the floor. Soaking in the soothing music and lights that sparkled in the ceiling. True relaxation washed over Allura for the first time in a while. No deadlines to meet, no people to please, no more horrid paperwork, she was free to do as she wished. But all she did was watch everyone else dance as she sat on the sidelines. Content.

She sighed softly and closed her eyes, twining her arms and fingers with Shiro’s, letting him rub over her knuckles slowly.

“Shiro..?” The princess said softly, keeping her head rested against her paladins shoulder.

“Yes princess?” He answered, voice just as low.

“I love you…”

“I love you too”

“I don’t want you to ever leave me” She looked up at him with a soft smile on her face, meeting his warm grey eyes. They both knew the meaning behind those words, the warmth that radiated in each others presence.

“Is that a marriage proposal?” Shiro snarked softly, reaching forward to cup Allura’s chin softly.

“I guess it is” She sighed, leaning into his hand.

“I don't have a ring for you”

“I think we can find some solution to that"

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah” she smiled, leaning up closer to her paladins face. The two kissed softly, letting the music drown out the room around them. They basked in each others presences, knowing that they would have much longer to go together than not.

But they were okay with that.

Things were going to be okay.

It was their time, and this is how they began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for joining me on this adventure!!! Thank you to all the people who left comments and subscribed to this fic. I will be posting more works in this AU eventually but they must be written first heh.  
> 
> 
> This is the first 'long' fic I have ever completed actually, and I am very proud of myself for this fact, and I hope you all found just as much enthusiasm in it as I did.  
> 
> 
> And as always, if you have comments, questions, or concerns, feel free to hit me up on [ Tumblr ](http://confused-bird.tumblr.com/)  
> 
> 
> Thank you again and I hope you stay tuned for the next installments in this series!

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully I can keep up the Monday updates but that should be fine.  
> If you want to see updates about this fic series or get spoilers about future characters go follow me at http://confused-bird.tumblr.com/ !  
> Comments and Kudos are always welcome and keep me inspired to keep writing!


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